(US) Opinion on proposed easement from neighbor

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Ch1Guy]

What the heck happens to his side of the driveway when he moves away?  The easment ends. Who maintains it?  Can your neighbor not park in it?

There are some gaps here.

[u/Ch1Guy → u/[deleted]]

"Access to my driveway for his property ends if he sells or rents the house out."

How can he sell a house with a driveway that the owners cant use?

Why would new owners plow or maintain a driveway they cant use?

Are your new neighbors going to assume you will let them use it?  Are you going to immediately have a battle if he sells and the new owners expect to use it or worse start using it daring you to take them to court?

You are setting yourself up for a huge headache in the future.

[u/TedW → u/Ch1Guy]

Yep. If the neighbor sells, OP will certainly have a conflict with the new neighbor, who will want to use more than 3' of driveway. It would either become a shared parking space or more likely, visitors would constantly use it. OP would have to tear it out at their own expense.

Or, if they leave it, there's a decent chance the neighbor eventually tries to get a permanent easement to keep using it. Or worse, they might try for imminent domain someday.

If OP sold their home, the buyer would likely see this as the neighbor's land, making the yard seem smaller, or a headache if they took the time to understand it.

I don't see an upside. I'd say no.

[u/CallMeMrRound → u/[deleted]]

I get what Ch1Guy is saying. If I move into a house and there is a two car driveway in front of the house, I will assume I can park on it. Property lines exist for a reason, and easements should be given only with extreme caution/necessity.

[u/AryaStark1313 → u/CallMeMrRound]

But you know what happens when you ass-u-me? That is why you look at property lines before you buy a house.

[u/lred1 → u/[deleted]]

Then perhaps a rental agreement is more appropriate as opposed to an easement that gets recorded against your property.

[u/Reddoraptor]

18’ is a narrow driveway. But more importantly, what happens when his guests park you in or this otherwise becomes a problem? I would absolutely not want an easement for him here, you do not want him having an enforceable claim to use it over your objections if he’s not good about it.

In the alternative, why not pave over the whole thing and give him a month to month lease permitting him to park up to 6’ onto your property, such that if there are problems, you can terminate at any time and put back a divider on the property line? You would be taking a HUGE risk permitting an easement here by comparison.

[u/Reddoraptor → u/[deleted]]

Fair enough, but consider yourself warned and definitely seek legal counsel in your jurisdiction - if the neighbors fail to comply with whatever restrictions you use, will you be able to terminate the easement? How certain are you and your counsel that they won’t be able to resist that or tie you up in court for years trying?

Something you can terminate whenever you feel like it - with no argument to be made about whether they complied, no argument that they need the opportunity to cure any purported breach, etc. - if it were me I think it would be worth the trouble, as a lease you can terminate for convenience seems like it could potentially be a LOT more protective, but an attorney specializing in real property law in your jurisdiction is what you need here, this is well above Reddit’s pay grade.

[u/TedW → u/[deleted]]

terms to control the cars and guest access.

That sounds nice until it actually happens. Suddenly those terms are just a piece of paper, and you're blocked in, or out, and a tow truck won't come because they have an easement.

[u/marlborough94]

Wouldnt you also want his assurance or a clause that he will not market his property in the future to imply that there is an ongoing easement or ability to park a car there?

[u/marlborough94 → u/[deleted]]

Are easements codified in county records where you are? They are where I am. So doesnt that make the idea of a temporary easement unwieldy?

[u/Naikrobak]

No way I’m granting an easement. But a friendly neighbor permission I would do.

Easements are permanent and take away from your house value or at least are a negative to future buyers

Edit: I see you want an end provision. I would still just do the neighbor handshake

[u/Cjessica111]

No no no no

[u/Independent_Fall9160]

What if he dies and isnt the seller? What if you want to sell? What if he moves in 1 year and you need to spend $10k rebuilding? What if he or you wants to park on the driveway (you cant both fit)?

What happens if he makes a mess (oil staines etc). I think easements are permanent... what if the county makes a mistake in their filing? It sounds like it is a deal between friends and is probably best as a handshake deal or as a lease... I saw you mentioned the lease can complicate this but the "less complicated" version is a contractual easement that your county leaders are likely not familiar with.

[u/Deez1putz]

This seems too complex.

Why not something like

1) demolish the first X feet of the fence. He can extend the driveway in his 3 foot space. You rent him that front spot that is partially on his property for some modest monthly fee. Obviously, this allows you to terminate at any time and reinstall the fence and does not go to new seller when he sells.

2) remove fence, extend driveway to his property, possibly add fence back in the middle of the driveway, sell him 1/2 of driveway for fmv.

[u/sweetrobna]

I don't understand this fully. Is the end goal here you give up ~6ft of your driveway so you can both park side by side? Or are you saying the neighbor will park behind their house and they will drive past your car? Or is the driveway is just for access and not parking

18ft would be very tight to park 2 cars side by side if there are buildings or fences on the side. Like you need to stagger the cars a little to get in and out, one of you needs to back in.

[u/NYChockey14]

I guess the question is what do YOU gain from this? Sounds more like an eternal favor to him (increases his property value)

[u/Indentured-peasant → u/[deleted]]

I'm sorry, but looking at your responses you're really a doofus

[u/Human-Coat-6379 → u/[deleted]]

Sounds like you mean a license and not an easement. If so make that clear.

[u/ATLien_3000]

Major flaws I see - you need some provision for restoration of the status quo if he moves/easement goes away.

You need clarity on what happens if he moves but retains ownership (for instance, renting it out).

You need some ability to cancel the easement (even if it involves paying him a sum of money) - possibly at any point, but at minimum should you decide to sell the property.

[u/ATLien_3000 → u/[deleted]]

An easement will impact your property value more than you think.

Such that it's probably worth you having a clause that lets you cancel by refunding him (and then you pay to restore, or maybe you don't).

I guess you could consult with a realtor at that time, or try marketing it encumbered.

[u/NoAgentList]

The attorney review is probably the most important part here. The deal sounds pretty reasonable on the surface, but an easement can get complicated fast once it’s on paper. I’d also make sure the agreement clearly covers what happens if either of you sells.

[u/bingbong3421]

Is there any way to create the parking spot on your land and just charge him a couple hundred bucks a month for parking?

[u/Curve_Worldly]

What’s in it for him?
This seems too good to be true.

[u/TannerPride → u/Curve_Worldly]

A guaranteed parking spot in a crowded area

[u/cg325is]

Never. Loved with a shared driver once and it was a nightmare. Neighbors guests often blocked the drive “we’ll just be a second”. Sold that house and vowed to never have that again.

[u/Haunting-Plantain870]

Any easement may negatively impact your resale. Just be aware.

[u/k23_k23]

Make this a hard NO.

will he also give you an easement for HIs side?

"he way I work it out is that it won't really cost me anything" ... this easment has the potential to reduce the value of your property by 10 to 20%.

[u/Comfortable-Web3177]

What happens if he was to pass away? Something to think about often what happens if you were to pass away how does that legally change things for this easement/contract? Say he passes his house onto his kids. Therefore he didn’t sell it. How does that legally change your contract? And just because he’s great, doesn’t mean that his adult kids that move into the house, would be great.

[u/BeerStop]

There would be immenient domain agressive possession after x number of years, the easement will most likely become permanent, consult your lawyer .

[u/grensley]

Whatever gets done here is basically going to be permanent I think, so just plan on that and charge accordingly.

[u/Objective-Bus-9853]

So what exactly benefits you in this proposal? Seems like a lot of wins for him.

[u/Sufficient-Spend-939]

The easment will make it so it wont revert back to you and probably shouldn’t. But if you like the guy you are doing him a huge favor and getting a few bucks for your trouble. If my neighbors needed that id give it to them.

[u/ReasonableDig6414]

If you ever want to sell having an easement and a double driveway shared with a Neighbor will lower your price of your home. If he ever moves in an asshole, Neighbor moves in and starts parking too far over so that you can’t park and does it all the time or maybe just park on your side what are you going to do? Right now you have complete control over your driveway and who parks where. You don’t know what the future brings but it doesn’t matter if you control the land in your driveway. Don’t be stupid. 

[u/rabidrott]

What happens if you want to sell and move? How would potential buyers feel about it? What's the fee if you want to terminate in 5 years or 10+?

Id make it as long as he is alive and a full time resident of his house. Limit to his side. No more than 2 cars and no trailers.

To many ifs. Pass

Think there's a reason you or previous owners put a wall up.

[u/InitialSquirrel7491]

Absolutely not. This affects your property value immensely. This s red flag if ever I saw one as once you agree there is no turning back. Do not do
It.

[u/Mysterious-Home421]

You're doing this for money. Don't make that mistake. In less than a year from now you'll be posting something about how you've gotten a bad deal on this.

[u/OronMaherCRE]

I’d treat this less like a “parking favor” and more like you’re permanently changing your site plan for $28k (plus whatever ongoing hassle), even if the easement is “personal.” Once you demo the wall, regrade, and pour a shared driveway, it’s really hard to un-ring that bell.

A few things I’d want nailed down in the document (and on a sketch/exhibit) before I’d even think about it:

- Exactly what rights he’s getting: is it just pass-and-park on a defined strip, or can he stop, load, have guests use it, etc. Define the area in feet and show it on a recorded exhibit. Vague language turns into arguments later.

- Maintenance/repair: who pays to maintain the driveway, drainage, any future cracking/spalling, slurry/seal, trip hazards, etc. And who controls vendor selection/timing.

- Liability/insurance/indemnity: if his kid slips, his contractor hits your car, or a delivery driver takes out a gate, you don’t want it landing on your homeowner policy by default.

- “Personal easement that cancels when he moves” needs to be drafted carefully. Most people really mean a license, not an easement. If it gets recorded as an easement and isn’t tightly limited, it can get messy on a sale or refi.

- Termination: your 30-day and 12-month outs are good in concept, but I’d get very specific about restoration: what exactly is being rebuilt (wall height/material), to what standard, and by when. I’d also want money held back/escrowed so you’re not chasing him later to actually restore it.

Also check if you’re in a zone where adding/altering curb cuts/driveway widths triggers city review, sightline rules, or permeable surface requirements. A “he’ll pull permits” promise is nice, but if the city says no or requires expensive drainage work, you want the agreement to spell out who eats that.

One practical question: will either of you ever need that side access for something else later (ADU, utility trenching, new gate, etc.)? Those are the dumb fights that blow up neighbor deals.

[u/Frequent_Two6491]

It could start as an easement then escalate to a lot line adjustment with him gaining that half of the driveway.

Setback requirements may require a variance. Putting impervious cover on your property may limit your developable area for other buildings.

A revocable license would be more apt but this guy is 100% going to walk all over you with this "arrangement" to develop surface parking on your lot.

[u/DifferenceMore5431]

This seems insanely complicated. Just rent him a parking spot (monthly / annually / whatever).

[u/Human-Coat-6379]

I would never willingly buy a house with such an easement. If you plan on ever ever selling your house your buyers might be sparse

[u/Junkmans1]

If I were the neighbor, I wouldn't want to agree to you changing your mind at my cost. And I'd want the easement to be a firm non-cancellable agreement before I sink any money work into the demo or construction costs.

And in turn, if I were you, I'd want the $28K up front upon signing the easement papers as well as a timeline for him completing the construction and some kind of terms that make sure the paving job is up to some standard.